Every January, I sit down with physician coaches and ask them how they’re thinking about the year ahead. It’s become one of my favorite traditions on the podcast—and I always walk away with something that shifts my own thinking.
This year’s first conversation was with Dr. Jessie Mahoney (pediatrician and mindfulness coach), Dr. Allison Anderson (cardiothoracic anesthesiologist and relationship mentor), and Dr. Wendy Schofer (pediatrician specializing in eating disorder prevention).
Here’s what landed for me.
Jessie’s Filter: Is It Fun?
Jessie shared her words for the year—strategic and focused, wealthy and healthy, brave and bold—and then said something that made all of us pause.
She’s decided to filter everything through one question: Is it fun?
Before you think that sounds impractical, here’s what she means. Running retreats is fun for her. Being strategic is fun. Even navigating being a new grandma to surprise twins born at home is an opportunity for fun.
The point isn’t that everything looks like a vacation. It’s that she gets to define what fun means for her—and use it as a compass.
Wendy’s Word: Whole
Wendy’s 2025 was the hardest year of her life. Her husband stationed on the opposite side of the world. Her daughter in Europe. Family health crises pulling her in every direction.
Her word for 2026? Whole.
“I just want to feel whole,” she said. “And I realized that whole doesn’t mean a big celebration. It doesn’t mean no discomfort. It just means I’m here. I’m still intact.”
She’s saying no to anything that would fracture that sense of wholeness. And she’s using that as her guide for a negotiation about a new clinical role, asking directly: “Are you asking me to plug a hole? Or are you looking for me to bring what I uniquely do?”
Allison’s Approach: Experiences Over Goals
Allison offered something completely different. Instead of rigid goals, she focuses on experiences she wants to have.
Not “I want to lose 25 pounds.”
But “I want the experience of walking into my closet and feeling like everything fits me and I feel good in it.”
She also sets monthly themes instead of year-long resolutions. One month might be about her kids. Another about her home. Another about relationships. It makes the year feel bite-sized and fresh instead of overwhelming.
The Training We Need to Undo
Here’s what really hit me in this conversation.
Jessie said we were literally trained NOT to feel satisfied. In medicine, if we felt satisfied, we’d worry everyone else would get ahead of us. So we learned to never feel like enough was enough.
That spills into everything. Including our eating.
We also talked about why working harder backfires in certain areas of life. As physicians, we’re incredible at grinding. But when you apply that to stress eating or relationships, it makes everything worse. Some areas of life require leaning back, not pushing forward.
The Takeaway
If I had to sum up this conversation, it would be this: We need to create space before we can add anything good.
Space to feel whole. Space to have fun. Space to actually experience satisfaction.
Sometimes that means saying no. Sometimes it means letting go of the how and anchoring into the why. Sometimes it means asking yourself what would be fun—even if you don’t have an answer yet.
Listen to this week’s episode of the Thriving As A Physician Podcast to hear the full conversation. This is Part 1 of our annual Thriving in 2026 interview series—more conversations with physician coaches coming throughout January.
Recent Comments